From Socialist Worker: http://socialistworker.org/2013/04/08/stop-and-terrorize
Wesley House and Gary Lapon
April 8, 2013
THE NEW York Police Department’s “stop-and-frisk” policy is nothing less than state-sponsored persecution, explicitly designed to “instill fear” in Black and Latino youth.
That’s the ugly picture emerging from the first weeks of testimony in Floyd v. City of New York, a federal class action lawsuit challenging the legality of the NYPD’s policy on these searches.
Witnesses have painted a picture of a police department driven by quotas for stops and racist contempt for youth of color, who are routinely and systematically targeted for harassment. The vast majority of the victims are innocent of any crime, and only a fraction of the searches turn up a weapon of any kind.
The trial has proven already that stop-and-frisk encourages New York cops to racially profile and abuse young Blacks and Latinos. After all, that’s what their bosses intend. According to the explosive testimony of a state senator and former officer, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told him explicitly that the purpose of stop-and-frisk was to make youth of color fear an encounter with police whenever they step out the door.
Stop-and-frisk has been the focus of increasing opposition and protest by New Yorkers, including a dramatic silent march of tens of thousands in Manhattan last June. This energy has kept the issue in the media, especially in New York, and put pressure on politicians and the courts to allow the class-action lawsuit to move forward.
Now, with a hoped-for favorable ruling in the case, the movement may be poised to achieve a landmark victory against the largest and most prominent program of racial profiling in the U.S. today.
Continue reading at: http://socialistworker.org/2013/04/08/stop-and-terrorize
